[1] A native of Lavernose, a village near Toulouse, he played as scrum-half and fly-half and is credited to this day by Stade Toulousain as the strategist of the club's first great teams in the early 20th century.

Paul Voivenel, who became a prominent rugby administrator and played a major role in keeping Mayssonnié's memory alive, recalled him as "a slight, unmuscular figure, an honest workman with the air of a teacher or public servant.

His first appearance, in 1908 against England, was France's first match at Colombes, which would remain the national team's primary home until the opening of Parc des Princes in the 1970s.

According to rugby historian Huw Richards, "His body might, like those of many war victims, have been lost but for his former Toulouse and France team-mate Pierre Mounicq, who buried it while under enemy fire."

Two days later, a group of five men that included Voivenel marked his grave; after the war, his remains were exhumed, returned to Lavernose, and reinterred in the local churchyard.